When you evaluate new knife designs there are people who are constantly encouraging you to try new models, and intriguing designs. This was the case when I contacted famed French self- defense guru Fred Perrin, through his faithful assistant and translator, Nemo.
During the period in which I was exchanging e-mails with Nemo regarding the Spyderco Perrin Street Bowie, he repeatedly encouraged me to obtain and test the Spyderco SPOT. I had always meant to pick one up, but my job and life in general kept me from grabbing one. On top of that, I determined the SPOT was a neck knife, and until that time neckers just didn’t excite me that much.
A friend loaned me one of these last fall and I changed my opinion of neck knives immediately.
The Self-Protection Option Tool, or SPOT, was designed by Sal Glesser using an idea provided by Perrin, who is the mastermind of many simple but effective self-protection tools. These tools, such as the aforementioned Street Bowie, are valued by folks constrained by restrictive gun laws.
These men and women need self- defense tools even if their governments don’t seem to agree. I am aware of more than a few people who tote the Street Bowies on the mean streets of Chicago, New York, and Baghdad. They do so because the blade is a well- thought-out, simple design. The same can be said of the SPOT.
The SPOT is a funny little blade. At first glance one might have to think hard about for what the tool is used. The knife’s reverse-S shape and 1-5/8 inch blade means it really doesn’t look fit enough for anything more stressful than opening a UPS package or cleaning one’s fingernails. As with any innovative design one, must look closer. The SPOT does, in fact have only a 1-3/8 cutting edge – but it does a lot with that little edge.
Stick your index finger through the Spyder Hole in the middle and set your thumb atop the spine – and this little necker becomes an amazingly controllable tool that can perform precise cutting jobs with ease. My test blade was made of AUS-6 steel, but a more recent model was offered with VG- 10 steel. The latter steel is my favorite and any knife made from it will serve you well.
When you stop and think about it, the SPOT is really an inspired design. In many municipalities, if you can carry a knife at all, it is required to be so short as to be useless for self-defense. The SPOT is small, but the design allows you to utilize it to cut yourself out of danger with almost as much ease as that of a 3-inch blade. It is as fast as a box cutter but with better quality steel and more uses. This Spyderco would be great for joggers, whitewater rafters, canoe enthusiasts, skydivers, and even truck drivers. It works anywhere one needs a small cutting tool fast. In my case, my father even used it in his garden for a week. He utilized the SPOT to trim rose bushes, prune limbs from trees, and cut tomatoes from plants.
Something that struck me after my initial tests, regarding the SPOT, was how flat it is. When you stuck it in the provided neck sheath and hang it around your neck, the knife hardly makes a bulge under clothing. The stealthy nature of this blade is certainly ideal for those who need a clandestine self-defense weapon, but, it’s also great for fans of water sports such as the divers and rafters among us. These are people who need a tool like this but want as little additional weight as possible.
The sheath comes with a combination paracord/ball chain strap that allows you to carry the SPOT safely, but permits the sheath to break way in case it becomes entangled in something that begins to choke the user. This danger is a fear of many that criticize the neck knife concept, and I can understand their concerns I have however, not seen a first-hand report of anyone endangered by a neck knife strap.
This particular knife loaner also included an aftermarket River City Sheaths black Concealex neck rig (above, right, next to the issue sheath). This model is just like all of Mike Sastre’s neck sheaths. They are secure but minimalist in construction. The sheath includes just what is needed to hold a knife tight, but nothing that isn’t. This sheath was supplied with a ball chain that seemed perfectly fine for my uses. I would have no reluctance hanging this sheath around my neck and heading out the door. (The River City sheath is an aftermarket accessory and is not supplied by Spyderco. To obtain one, check Mike Sastre’s website at www.rivercitysheaths.com . Mike’s work is endorsed by The Martialist, as is that of several other sheathmakers.)
The SPOT is one of the more reasonably priced models Spyderco offers and this is another good reason to own one. I reluctantly returned mine to the nice gentleman who loaned it to me, but any day now the little brown truck should be dropping off a package on my doorstep containing one of these cool little knives.